Friends
by musicsage
Summary: In their second year at Hogwarts, James and Sirius grow suspicious of Remus's repeated absences and decide to act. [MWPP oneshot, NOT slash. Second half also a songfic to Iris, by the GooGoo Dolls.]


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter or the Marauders or Hogwarts. I just have six hardcover books of varying thickness and condition and a couple DVDs, and that's enough for me! I'm just playing here, so don't sue.

**Author's Notes**: People are probably wondering how a love song is being used in an MWPP story like this one, but I'll say it again: this is not slash. If you look at the connections between the lyrics and the story, I think you'll see that putting a different spin on the words to the song can work to make it about friendship. That said, enjoy!

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**_Friends_**

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James Potter lay awake in his bed in the Gryffindor second-year dormitory, painfully aware of the presence of only two other boys in the room. He sighed and sat up—it was no use trying to sleep; he had to talk to Sirius now. _I hate to talk about anyone behind their backs, but I guess Remus's absence is to my advantage now—don't have to worry about him overhearing us… Won't bother waking Peter up right now, though, he sleeps like a rock, and we can talk to him when we've decided what we're gonna do._ Carefully he drew back the scarlet curtains of his four-poster and swung his legs over the side of the mattress, padding across the room to Sirius's bed as silently as he could. He hesitated for but a moment before solidifying his resolve. Sirius was his best friend as well as a friend of Remus's, and he wouldn't mind losing a bit of sleep over this. _It's not like he hasn't noticed it either._

"Sirius—Sirius, mate, wake up," he whispered, prodding his friend in the side. Sirius just rolled over and grunted something suspiciously akin to "Stop poking me, you greasy-haired, hook-nosed…" James's lips quirked upward, and he jabbed his friend's ribs harder. "Oi, Sirius—"

"Izzat you, James?" Sirius's eyes had finally blinked open and registered that it was not, after all, a revenge-seeking Slytherin who was poking him.

James was full-out grinning now. "No, Sleeping Beauty, I'm Prince Charming, come to rescue you from your evil stepmother." Apparently he had mixed up a couple of those Muggle fairy-tales his uncle kept in his library. "Get up, you fool, I want to talk to you."

Sirius blinked again, fully awake now as he started to sit up. "What's up?"

James glanced over his shoulder at the drawn curtains concealing Peter's bed. "Let's go to the common room—no need to wake up Peter right now."

Sirius snorted softly but stood and followed him downstairs nonetheless. "As if that log would wake up 'cause of us whispering."

They reached the common room and sat in a couple of overstuffed chairs facing each other by the fireplace. Despite the late hour and quick approach of spring to the Hogwarts grounds this March, the fire crackled merrily in its hearth. Before Sirius could ask again, James said dryly, "I think I can assume you've noticed that Remus is conspicuously absent again."

"You could give me some credit—even I'm not that dense." Sirius cocked his head and became serious. "It's been just about a month since his last sickness or family visit or whatever. I'd almost begun to think nothing would happen."

"Haven't you noticed?" James asked quietly. "There's always about a month between his absences." Sirius nodded, and he hesitated a bit. "And… Back in January, we had Astronomy on the night he was gone. It was the full moon. I thought it was probably just a coincidence, but when we had Astronomy a couple nights after Remus disappeared last month, I decided kind of randomly to check Professor Sinistra's calendar…"

"And?"

"Full moon on the night he left. And during Astronomy this Tuesday, I thought I'd just check up when the full moon was this month. And it's tonight. Again."

"I always thought there was something a tad odd about how he always left once a month—no more, no less—but then, sometimes he would say he was visiting his sick mother, so I thought that might be a regular thing. I mean, with nothing to go on—there's nothing special about something that happens monthly, not really…"

"Yeah, I didn't want to jump to conclusions either. At first, I was thinking, what could the full moon have to do with his absences, anyway? But then I realized, maybe…" James trailed off.

Sirius's eyes widened as he realized suddenly the implications of the full moon. "Do you really… You don't think he's…?"

"It's hard to say, but three months in a row…" James also looked hesitant to believe his idea. "After looking up a few things, I can't think of any explanation _but_ him being a werewolf."

"Yeah…" Sirius appeared thoughtful, James, slightly troubled with a question in his hazel eyes.

"But I mean, how do we know for sure?"

"Well…" Sirius sounded a bit tired, but resolute. "No way to know unless we ask, right? We'll have to confront him—I mean, not like _that_, but just… sit down and ask him. I get the feeling Remus is the kind of person who would prefer if we didn't beat around the bush about it. That would be uncomfortable for all of us."

"Yeah, but we don't wanna be too blunt. It's not as if we're accusing him of something—we just want the truth." James paused. "It wouldn't be bad if he were a werewolf, right? The prejudice is kind of stupid—for about ninety-five percent of their lives, werewolves are just like the rest of us. And obviously if he wasn't in a safe place for the other five, someone would've noticed by now."

"Yeah. My parents would throw a fit anyway, though, if they thought a werewolf were allowed to go here. Probably say something dumb and biased about filthy half-breeds and how they thought even Dumbledore had more wizarding pride than that. As if anything about Remus is filthy," Sirius added with a snort. "It's a little odd to think about—I mean, right now, Remus could be running around somewhere as a wild wolf—but if he is… well, it's not _his_ fault."

"Exactly." James yawned. "Well, we'll have to tell Peter what we suspect before we all talk to Remus. And make sure he doesn't jump to conclusions or blab or something."

"He won't tell—he's not the brightest, so he'll probably be surprised, but he's got a brain. Even if he's a little scared at first, he'll see the logic against the prejudice. He's Remus's friend, too." Sirius yawned as well, and his friend chuckled a bit.

"So Peter tomorrow, and we could talk to Remus tomorrow night, I s'pose… But for now, obviously we both need some sleep." James rose and stretched. Following suit, Sirius trudged back upstairs beside him.

"G'night," he mumbled as he crawled back into bed.

"'Night."

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James and Sirius had little trouble with Peter the next day. While Remus was in the loo during lunch, they managed to fill Peter in on their suspicions in hurried whispers, carefully making sure no one overheard them. As they had predicted, Peter was initially rather shocked and a tad fearful. The logic penetrated, though, as they reminded him that if Remus was indeed a werewolf, he had been since before they had met him, and obviously if he was really dangerous they would know by now. "Nothing will change if we ask him," concluded Sirius.

"Except hopefully Remus will trust us with the truth," James added.

"Yeah…" Peter wore a thoughtful frown. "Yeah, I guess that's right. I'm surely not about to tell anyone, especially since we don't even know for sure yet. So we're going to talk to him tonight?"

"Yep. We should do it while we're in our dorm, since no one else will be there," Sirius replied.

"Yeah. Leave it to us to start off though, okay, Peter? No offense, but we really need to be tactful and not scare him away from us or anything," said James. "He needs to know we won't hold it against him if he is…"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, that kind of relieves me, actually—I wouldn't know what to say. Here he comes now…"

And so the three managed not to let anything slip until later that night, after dinner…

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Remus Lupin laughed as he climbed the stairs to his dormitory with his three best friends around him. He was happier than ever to be among the other boys after last night's full moon.

"That was quite a belch, Sirius," Peter said with a grin that his friend returned whole-heartedly.

"But of course! That shepherd's pie was the best I've ever eaten," he replied heartily.

"Well, you might try praising it in words alone next time," scolded James jokingly. "I swear, I could even _smell_ that burp—it must really stink inside your stomach."

"You could at least remember your manners and say 'excuse me,'" Remus added, pretending to be grave.

"Ah, you're no fun!" Sirius pouted, to which James punched him lightly in the arm.

By now they had reached their dorm and were putting away their things (which for James and Sirius constituted simply dropping their bags at the foot of their beds). A comfortable silence stretched between them while Peter took out his books, arranging them on his nightstand's shelf, and Remus flopped on his bed, yawning. He was always tired for a day or two after the full moon—another observation noted by James and Sirius. As the two stretched, they exchanged a significant glance. James nodded.

"Remus, listen," he began, arranging his voice in a neutral tone, "there's something we've been meaning to ask you. About… all these absences you have." Peter paused his actions and suddenly looked alert. "No, we know the reason you gave for this last one, you don't need to tell us again," he added quickly, for Remus had opened his mouth as if to speak. "It's just…" He sighed softly and glanced at Sirius again. "We've been wondering if maybe those aren't the real reasons you're missing."

Remus felt the blood draining rapidly from his face, his eyes widening, his brain panicking. It seemed all the air had been sucked out of him, and he had to force himself to breathe and think up a suitable response. This had come out of nowhere! He rapidly shook his head and explained, "No, it's just my mother's health is, well… delicate… and I guess I get it from her. You know—between me getting sick myself and visiting her, I miss quite a lot of school, don't I?"

_And I'd give up forever to touch you  
Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
And I don't want to go home right now  
_

He stopped himself from babbling, waiting for their response with baited breath. Meanwhile, his thoughts were racing. Was this the end? Had he been discovered? His roommates were smart, and he wasn't sure they would buy his excuses. But he'd come so close to touching their world; he'd give so much just to really be part of it… James's tone didn't imply that he was angry or frightened, so maybe… Could it really be, though? Living at Hogwarts with these three was the closest he'd ever been to having real friends among whom his lycanthropy didn't matter. But if they knew, would it remain that way? He didn't want to go back to the way he'd lived before—in heartbroken isolation, extremely unwilling to trust, living with the fact that his parents were the only ones who would love him despite the wolf…

And all I can taste is this moment  
And all I can breathe is your life  
Cause sooner or later it's over  
I just don't want to miss you tonight

He didn't want that to be a fact. Over these months, he had grown close to James, Sirius, and Peter, slowly building his trust in them as he realized that perhaps things would work out after all. In the back of his mind he'd always thought that they must figure it out sooner or later, but he'd tried hard to ignore those looming thoughts and enjoy these moments, inhaling their contagious energy. Just going to sleep in a room with three other boys and daring to think that maybe, just maybe these were people who wouldn't mind living with a classified "dangerous creature"… He'd never been happier in his life. After being driven out of so many places, rejected by so many people he'd almost thought friends, he wasn't sure if he could stand the warm joy they'd given him being taken away so suddenly. He didn't want to be left in the dust again, clumsily stitching together the pieces of an again-broken heart and rebuilding the walls that had only just begun to crumble.

And I don't want the world to see me  
Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
When everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am

Remus was drawn from his frantic haze by Sirius's steady, gentle voice. "We're not trying to accuse you of lying or anything, mate," he coaxed earnestly, for once easing into something instead of leaping in head first. "But we've already got some ideas, and we really don't want to jump to conclusions or anything. It wouldn't be right not to ask you about it—we wouldn't actually know anything. We… we just want to know the truth."

_The truth._ Sirius made it sound so _simple_, but for Remus it was always so _far_ from simple that he let out half a bitter chuckle before feeling contrite at the other boys' expressions when they heard it. He'd never made a habit of resenting his lycanthropy, though it could be incredibly difficult not to do so at times. Would it really be bad to tell them? He almost scoffed at the thought—it was _always_ bad to tell people. But it sounded as if they might already suspect it… Then again, perhaps he should hear these ideas of theirs before he decided on that. "Go on, then," he said, feeling very pale and probably sounding exhaustedly resigned. "What ideas have you got?"

James looked somewhat relieved. "We had Astronomy the night you were gone back in January, and I kind of randomly noticed it was the full moon that night. On a sort of whim I checked again in February, and then again the other night…" Of course. It would be just like James to notice those subtle coincidences that even Professor Sinistra herself had not. Remus remembered how the lessons about the lunar cycle had left his heart beating a little too rapidly—no one else had seemed to notice any change in his demeanor, but it seemed these three might have hit the nail on the head… "It was too big of a coincidence to ignore, so I talked to Sirius and Peter… and well, we all agreed…"

"Like he said, we didn't want to jump to conclusions," Peter piped up, sounding a bit nervous to contribute. "So if there's something going on, we knew we had to talk to you about it."

"Yeah. We want to ask you directly…" James made eye contact with Remus and held it. "Are you a werewolf?"

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming  
Or the moment of truth in your lies  
When everything seems like the movies  
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

Remus looked down at his hands. It seemed the moment of truth had arrived… He was glad they hadn't wasted too many words getting to the point, but confronted so directly, he couldn't evade the question. Should he even bother? They seemed so… unassuming… Well, if they'd already guessed, there was no logic in trying to get around it. They had asked him directly, and he would answer in kind, and cross the bridge of repercussions should he come to it… Oh, how dearly he hoped he wouldn't… He took a deep breath and forced himself to look back up at James. "Yes. Yes… I am a werewolf."

_Werewolf._ The word tasted rather sour in his mouth—he had not uttered it in so long, and all that it meant to him, all the pain it dredged up threatened to force its way past his carefully constructed defenses. _Later._ He forced himself to stay rational. _See what they have to say first._

All three of the other boys exchanged glances—of fear? Or did it look more like relief? On instinct, Sirius swiftly stood and in three quick paces walked to Remus's bed. For a fleeting, dread-filled instant Remus thought he was angry. It wouldn't have been the first time someone hit him on account of his lycanthropy. But Sirius's expression conveyed emotions far from anger, and the boy simply dropped onto the edge of the bed and slung his arm around Remus's shoulders. Remus froze at the contact.

"You could've told us, y'know," Sirius said lightly, but with a gentle undertone of concern. "It's not as if being a werewolf makes you a... monster, or something. Like James said to me last night, ninety-five percent of the time, you're just like us."

"Obviously if you were dangerous to us or something, we would know by now," James confirmed.

"Yeah," added Peter, relieved that the cards were finally on the table. "Nothing has changed, really."

"But you can trust us now," said Sirius. "We won't tell anyone. It's really not fair that their opinions would change because of something you can't help…" The hint of anger creeping into his voice was purely protective.

Remus felt as though the dams would burst in any second. His heart was racing. Could they really mean it? Was this really happening to him? He blinked his widened eyes in his surprise, then blinked again to make sure they agreed with his ears. They saw the friendly looks on the boys' faces, and what's more, they were dry.

"Are—are you serious?" He choked the words out in a rush.

Sirius laughed a bit. "Of course I am, I've been _Sirius_ ever since my idiot parents named me."

Smiling but evidently sincere, James strode to the two boys' side, placing a hand on Remus's upper arm. "We really mean it, Remus. We're your friends.

_Friends…_ Even now Remus didn't realize how sad it was that the concept was so foreign to him.

Peter, too, stood and joined them. "You can count on us, mate."

And I don't want the world to see me  
Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
When everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am

Well, perhaps he wasn't revealing his lycanthropy to all the world, but nonetheless it felt as though a great weight he hadn't even realized was there had been lifted from him for the first time in years. Having adult confidantes such as Dumbledore, McGonagall, and his parents was one thing, but having friends his own age with whom he could truly share anything? It was a dream he had never once considered realistically possible to fulfill. But now, it was his reality… He hardly dared to believe it.

Slowly, a brilliant smile spread over his face. Hopefully gazing around at the friendly faces, he could manage no more than a simple, hoarsely voiced "Thank you…"

In the midst of the many thoughts racing through his mind, he wondered just how drastically these three boys would change his life…

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**Author's Notes**: Well, finally! These seven pages have been sitting around my computer since March, just waiting to be edited and posted. I'm thinking of writing a sort of sequel, since I imagine Remus would have to get used to the idea of the other boys knowing. We'll see if that ever happens... Also, I'm not sure if this actually would have happened in their second year, so if anyone knows the real MWPP timeline, please correct me! Oh, and don't knock the Sirius/serious joke. I know I had one in my other MWPP story, as well, but really, they're irresistible in situations like this. Anyway, thanks much for reading! Please review!


End file.
